Once a Thief?
by Quadhelix
Summary: After Yahiko is implicated in a serious theft, none of his friends believe that he did it. However, as the evidence against Yahiko mounts, everything comes down to a single question: how much can the Kenshingumi really trust its youngest member?
1. The Crime

Disclaimer: _Rurouni Kenshin_ is property of Watsuki Nobuhiro. If I did own it, it would be set in space and nobody would read it.

**Once a Thief?**

By Quadhelix 

**Chapter 1: The Crime**

As dusk fell over the Kamiya Dojo, none of its occupants were aware that an immense change was on the verge of occurring. As they settled into their beds for the night, they were completely oblivious to the fact that their world would be turned on its head by the next morning.

A dark figure snuck through the house, carefully concealing its movements with absolute stealth. Moving swiftly past several rooms, the form finally entered the owner's bedroom. After making sure that the owner, Kamiya Kaoru, was asleep, the intruder snuck into the closet and began a quick search. After several seconds, the thief took something from the closet. A few moments later, the burglar left the room, looking for any signs of its having been there. Its objective accomplished, the prowler left and headed down the hall and entered the room of the dojo's youngest resident: Myojin Yahiko.

* * *

As the first rays of light entered her room, Kamiya Kaoru noticed a problem. Being a master, or mistress as the case may be, of kendo, her senses were able to come to the full, even an instant after awaking. Although she could not place it, something was definitely wrong. Heading over to her closet, she found out why: the closet door was slightly ajar.

This bothered her greatly because she was sure she had slid it all of the way shut the night before. After extending her burgeoning ki sense past the door and finding nothing living, she ruled out an ambush and opened the door.

Something seemed to be missing.

Carefully examining the contents of her closet, she could not find anything suspicious. That is, until she found, or rather, failed to find her mother's bracelet. The bracelet was solid gold with several varieties of precious stone set into it and had been a gift to her grandfather from the Emperor for unspecified favors. And now it was gone.

Kaoru screamed.

After several moments, Himura Kenshin and Myojin Yahiko stormed into the room.

"What's wrong?" For an instant, some part of Kaoru's psyche wondered if she was hearing double.

"It's gone! My mother's bracelet is gone!"

After Kaoru explained the problem to Kenshin and Yahiko, both agreed to help her find the bracelet. Kenshin decided that the best first course of action would be to inform the police. After Kenshin left, Yahiko said that he had some business to take care of and left.

As Yahiko walked down the street, he decided to step into the Akabeko to buy several beef bowls. And that was the only reason. Honest. I mean it. It absolutely did not have anything to do with a cute, shy waitress with short hair who had caught Yahiko's eye. It certainly had nothing to do with the way his heart would beat a little faster when she smiled at him or how he would do anything in his power to protect her. Definitely not the reason. Really…

Who am I kidding? She was the main reason that he ate there.

"Hey there, Tsubame!"

"Hello Yahiko-kun, how is your day today."

"Not bad, how is yours?"

"It is very good, Yahiko-kun."

"That's good Tsubame. May I have three beef bowls to go, please?"

"Certainly Yahiko-kun."

After buying the beef bowls, Yahiko left the Akabeko and headed for a different area of town. As he did, he made sure to hide the food that he was carrying and did his best to stay out of sight. All around, there were unkempt men in muddy torn clothes. The buildings were crumbling and the wood was rotting. Garbage was gathered in piles in the street.

Yahiko ducked into an alley and looked around for a few minutes. After making sure that nobody was looking, he ducked behind a pile of trash and slipped through a hole in the wall. Inside there was a small room that gave the impression of being a minor disaster area. The walls were, by some aberration from Japanese architecture, wood, which was by that time long into the process of rot. The door had been sealed shut by a pile of waste so large that Yahiko doubted that it could be moved without mechanical aid. Discarded paper and cloth covered the floor and the only real piece of furniture was a futon hidden by a large, decaying table.

On the futon, there was a small boy of about eight years of age, but who was small enough that most people mistook him for a five-year-old. His dark hair had mostly fallen out and he was missing several teeth. His skeleton was visible on most parts of his body and his skin was extraordinarily pale. As he lay there under piles of crumpled up rice paper walls, tatami floor mats, and old kimonos, Yahiko had to fight to hold in a tear at the sound of the child's labored breathing.

"Akio, wake up, it's almost noon."

The child stirred for a moment then froze, sniffing the air. Suddenly he bolted up and smiled a huge smile.

"Yahiko-sempai, you brought food!"

"I can't let you starve, Akio-chan."

"Don't call me 'chan!'" Akio was able to hold a straight face for all of three seconds before giggling uncontrollably. Yahiko gave Akio the three beef bowls and sat down to talk.

"So Akio, why do you still live in this place. There are plenty of people who would be more than happy to-"

"No! You've asked me before and I will not live by the charity of others!"

"Then why did you accept the beef bowls?"

"What's so bad about sharing lunch with a good friend, Yahiko-sempai?"

"I'm glad you see it that way, Akio."

"Besides, Yahiko-sempai, you obviously have a job for me."

Yahiko had just started to swallow some saliva that had been building up in his mouth, but the surprise cause him to choke on it and he spent the next minute trying to clear his throat. Finally, he recovered his ability to speak.

"How did you, Akio-chan?"

"It's simple Yahiko-sempai, you brought three beef bowls. When you don't have a job for me, you only bring me one beef bowl because you know that I would only accept one. However, if you have a job that you want me to do, you can convince me to accept additional bowls as payment for the job. Therefore, since you brought three beef bowls, it must be a relatively simple but still difficult enough that you felt I would accept two bowls as payment. Am I right, Yahiko-sempai?"

"Sometimes I wonder which of us really deserves the title of 'sempai.'"

"You do, of course, Yahiko-sempai. So, about that job."

"Well, there's this bracelet…"

* * *

That evening, when Yahiko returned to the dojo, there was a police officer conducting interviews of Kaoru and Kenshin. After getting statements from all three of them, the officer said that he would like to search the house for clues. After finding none in Kaoru's room, he began to search Yahiko's room. Soon, he found a small box hidden in the closet. Yahiko's face turned scarlet.

"Don't open that!"

However, it was too late: the box was open. Everyone but the officer gasped. Yahiko's face turned white. The officer raised an eyebrow.

"What the…"

"It can't be."

"That looks like the bracelet Kaoru-dono described, that it does."

"It seems that we have our thief."

**To Be Continued…**


	2. The Defense

Disclaimer: _Rurouni Kenshin_ is property of Watsuki Nobuhiro. If I did own it, it would be set in space and nobody would read it.

**Once a Thief?**

By Quadhelix

**Chapter 2: The Defense**

A hush had settled over the dojo. The officer moved to arrest Yahiko but Kaoru stepped between them.

"Out of the way, ma'am."

"If you think you can just arrest my student-"

"With all due respect, ma'am, your student is a suspect in a robbery. I have to arrest him. I wish there was something I could do, but it is my duty to arrest him."

"Do you mind waiting outside, officer-dono?"

"Of course not Himura-san"

With that the officer left the room and shut the door. Kenshin then turned to Yahiko, who was looking at the box with his mouth agape and his eyes wide.

"Did you do it, Yahiko?" That got his attention.

"What did you ask me, Kenshin?" The growl that Yahiko emitted was like that of a lion defending its kill.

"I asked if you had stolen the bracelet, that I did."

"How could you ask me that, Kenshin? Why would I steal a stupid bracelet?"

"Yeah, Kenshin, how could you accuse him that?"

"Kaoru-dono, I made no such accusation, I merely did not force a-"

"Both of you, out of my room! And take your stupid bracelet with you!" The bracelet hit Kenshin with enough force to knock back his head. As he and Kaoru left Yahiko's room, they both noticed that he was holding his pillow crying.

"Officer-san, would you mind coming back tomorrow? We seem to be having some problems and unless Yahiko says otherwise, I refuse to believe that he stole my bracelet." The officer sighed.

"You know the kid pretty well, don't you?"

"He's like a younger brother to me." The officer pulled out a pocket watch and took a few seconds to adjust it. Finally, he turned to Kenshin and Kaoru.

"Well, it seems that my watch is running a bit fast. It's one o'clock, but it reads three o'clock. Unfortunately, by the time I get back to the station and realize my mistake, it will be too late for me come back here today and I'll have to return tomorrow. Good day to you, Himura-san, Kamiya-san." And with that, he left.

* * *

Yahiko was not surprised at the knock on his door. Kenshin and Kaoru had been trying for the past hour toget him out of his room. He had merely yelled at them to leave him alone. 

"Go away!"

"Yahiko-kun?" Yahiko's head shot up so quickly that he almost wrenched his neck.

"Tsubame-chan?"

"May I come in?"

"Sure. What are you doing here, anyway?" As Tsubame sat down at the foot of his futon, she avoided looking him in the eyes.

"I was told that you weren't feeling well, Yahiko-kun."

"They think that I stole Kaoru's bracelet!"

"No they don't."

"What do you mean?" He was staring at her, brows creased, with a small frown on his face.

"Himura-san said that he wanted you have a chance to tell your side of the story. He doesn't think that you took the bracelet, but he feels that if you did do it, there should be no reason for you not to confess."

"Why does he think I might have stolen it?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Yahiko-kun, but has Himura-san not come close to breaking his vow several times in the past?"

"What does that-Oh!" If Kenshin had come close to returning to his past as murderer, how much easier would it be for Yahiko to return to his past as a thief? Far from being a presumption of guilt, Kenshin's question had been driven by…empathy. Kenshin knew what it was like to have the past come back to haunt you. The question was also built on trust: the trust that if Yahiko had stolen the bracelet, he would tell Kenshin. Armed with this knowledge, Yahiko got up and walked calmly into the main room, where Kenshin and Kaoru were waiting. Staring Kenshin in the eye, Yahiko gave his response.

"I didn't take the bracelet." After a moment, Kenshin smiled widely.

"That is wonderful, that it is. Simply to satisfy my curiosity, why did you panic when the officer was about to open the box?" Kenshin was looking at Yahiko with wide, inquisitive eyes. Yahiko's face turned red and he spent nearly a minute working up the nerve to speak. Everyone noticed that he kept glancing at Tsubame.

"Tsukioka-san, that friend of Sano's drew a picture of Tsubame for me… I kept it in that box." Kenshin merely gave a knowing smile and nodded gently.

"This unworthy one is glad that you cleared that up, that I am." It was at this point that Tsubame, face still red, asked the question that nobody wanted to ask.

"If Yahiko-kun did not steal the bracelet, who did?"

* * *

Yahiko stuck his arm into Kaoru's closet and began feeling around with a look of concentration on his face. Kenshin, Kaoru, and Tsubame looked on with interest. Finally, Yahiko's eyebrows shot up and a wide grin came to his face. Kaoru was the first to ask. 

"What is it, Yahiko?"

"Whoever the thief is, he left his signature."

"Signature?"

"Yeah. Some thieves mark places that they've robbed by leaving a small, almost unnoticeable sign, usually a set of kanji, whenever they pull a theft. It's sort of a way of marking their territory. Usually, it's only thieves associated with powerful Yakuza groups. Powerful enough that other thieves will take the threat seriously. In fact, most thieves always check for just such a mark before pulling a heist. It isn't healthy to rob from Yakuza turf, if you know what I mean." Kaoru continued her questioning.

"Do you recognize the mark?"

"No, I don't. Each Yakuza group has its own mark. The only thing that you really need to know is whether or not the mark came from your group. If it did, you were safe. If it didn't…you left _everything_ as you found it, left as quietly as you could, and ran away as fast as your body could carry you. The thing is, Yakuza will only leave their mark if they want to be absolutely sure that nobody stole from that place except people under their protection."

"So what is it doing here, Yahiko-kun?"

"Well, if we knew who did this, then we might be able to figure out a motive."

"But you said that you did not recognize the mark, that you did."

"I don't, but I know somebody who would."

* * *

The next morning, Yahiko sought out the home of his contact. 

"Hello, Akio."

"Hello, Yahiko-sempai. I see that you have a very difficult job for me today."

"Yeah, and ten is only a down payment." Akio's left eyebrow shot up.

"It's that difficult, Yahiko-sempai?"

"It's that dangerous…do you know which Yakuza group uses this mark to ward off other thieves?" Akio's eyes got so wide that Yahiko was worried that they might pop out.

"Do you realize how big a price they would put on my head if I even _hinted_ that I knew which group left a specific mark? Do you realize what they'd do to me when they caught me? I might as well commit seppuku without a second." Akio nodded his head to the right, toward the front of the building, and shifted his eyes in the same direction: there was somebody listening.

"Yeah, Akio, I guess friendship can only go so far. I shouldn't have even asked. It was unreasonable." Keeping his right hand hidden from the direction Akio had indicated, Yahiko tapped the side of his head, right next to his eye. Akio nodded his head: the listeners could see Yahiko and Akio.

"Well Yahiko-sempai, it would be a shame to let all of this food go to waste, but I really must ask you to leave." Hiding his left hand from the watchers, Akio extended two fingers and tapped the floor: two watchers.

"Well then, Akio, I guess I'll just be going." Yahiko stood up, stretched, and tapped the floor twice with his shinai. Suddenly, there was a loud disturbance in the adjoining room. Kenshin's voice filtered in through the wall.

"They are both unconscious, that they are." With that, Yahiko turned back to Akio.

"So, now that that's taken care of, let's talk a price for the name of the Yakuza group that uses this mark."

"Are those offers to come live with you still open?"

"They would be even if you don't tell us." By now, Kenshin had entered the room.

"Well then, I guess I better start packing: there is no way that I'm staying here once I let you know that that mark belongs to the _Black Akuma_ Yakuza Clan."

* * *

Back at the Akabeko, Tsubame was waiting tables, hoping that things went well for Yahiko. She had tried to keep busy to keep her mind off the fact that Yahiko was literally in mortal danger. 

She did not notice when one customer about her age scratched her arm with a small needle. As the day went on, she did not wonder why her arm itched so badly, assuming that it was just a bug bite. She was not worried that she felt overheated and had trouble standing up: she had been working hard and it was a warm day. However, when her vision started to go hazy, she did start to worry.

"Tae-san!" And with that, Tsubame passed out on the Akabeko floor.

* * *

"Megumi-dono, what brings you here?" Megumi's face held a look of intense loss. 

"I needed to tell you that Tsubame is at the clinic, unconscious. She's been poisoned. There's nothing I can do." Yahiko had overheard this and was instantly in her face.

"What? Can't you help her? You were able to save me when I was poisoned!"

"This is a different poison. Without a sample of the original poison, there is nothing I can do."

"I'll get a sample of that poison; Tsubame-chan is depending on me!" Megumi's look changed from one of loss to a look of doubt.

"Yahiko, even if you could get a sample of the poison, I need it within the next two hours. Otherwise, I won't be able to find the right antidote in time."

"That's no problem, we know who did it and where they are, isn't that right, Yahiko-sensei?" Megumi looked at the small boy sitting on the porch and raised her eyebrows.

"Who are you and how do know that?" Akio jumped to the ground and bowed.

"Akio-chan, at your service!" He then stood up and continued, "We know who the would-be assassins are because it is obvious: the _Black Akuma_ want Yahiko-sempai punished for betraying their allies. This Tsubame person is obviously somebody very important to Yahiko-sempai. She would be an obvious target. They also want revenge against her because her former master was a member of _Black Akuma_. As for how I know where their hideout is, I _am_ the underworld."

"Then we will storm the lion's den, that we will."

"Good luck, Yahiko-sempai!"

As Yahiko, Kenshin, and Sanosuke left to attack the Black Akuma, and Kaoru and Megumi left to defend the clinic, Akio choked back a sob and whispered before following Kaoru and Megumi.

"You'll need it, Yahiko-sempai."

To Be Continued…


	3. The Counterattack

Disclaimer: _Rurouni Kenshin_ is property of Watsuki Nobuhiro. If I did own it, it would be set in space and nobody would read it. Also, the information on grenades and maximum survivable body temperature comes from Wikipedia.

**Once a Thief?**

By Quadhelix

**Chapter 3: The Counterattack **

Megumi and Kaoru reached the clinic shortly after leaving the dojo, but it was already sunset. Akio ran in behind them, panting. Kaoru assessed their strategic positioning while Megumi went to check Tsubame's temperature. Kaoru began barricading the door with furniture.

"Her temperature is still just a little over one-hundred three degrees. It has been rising at about two degrees per hour and the absolute maximum temperature that the human body can survive is one-hundred thirteen degrees, but that is a maximum."

Meanwhile, Akio had started surveying the clinic. He noticed which chemicals were which and began mixing them while contemplating the uses of the various items in the room. After filling several containers with his mixtures, he went back to the front room and began to watch out the window. When Megumi asked what he was doing, Akio simply responded, "You'll see."

Finally, after nearly an half hour of waiting, the first raiders arrived. There were three of them, each carrying a wakizashi. Akio saw them through the front window and decided that it was better to use his ammo at range, where it would do the most good and was least likely to burn down the clinic.

Therefore, Kaoru and Megumi were surprised when Akio threw a small clay container right in the middle of the three bandits. The three bandits were equally surprised. All five were even more surprised when the container blew up, knocking the bandits unconscious and causing first and second degree burns and cutting the bandits with clay shrapnel.

Kaoru was the first to speak.

"What was _that_?"

"That was a homemade stun grenade. Don't worry, they aren't dead."

"Grenade?" Megumi knew the answer to that one.

"An English word for a thrown military explosive. The word comes from the Spanish word for 'pomegranate' and was first used in 1688, during the 'Glorious Revolution,' for the handheld explosives used in England at the time."

"Thank you, Megumi. So Akio, how many of those things do you have left?"

"I have four left, so we better use them sparingly."

* * *

Kenshin, Yahiko, and Sanosuke were not having such an easy time of things. As soon as they reached the dilapidated portion of town, which had taken twenty minutes just by itself, they were attacked by nearly a dozen bandits. Although the bandits had superior numbers and superior weaponry, Yahiko had superior training, Sanosuke had more experience, and Kenshin had both. Even still, the two groups fought it out for nearly fifteen minutes before the fight ended. 

The battle began when the rogues, who had been hiding in some nearby building, spotted the Kenshin-gumi and charged. Kenshin drew his sakabatou and began using it to knock out his opponents. Sano simply punched his foes wherever he found an opening. Yahiko used the simple yet effective technique of evading and counterattacking. The enemy, however, was doped up on morphine, requiring the Kenshin-gumi to strike many times harder than usual, tiring them out more quickly than normal. The foe's unfair advantage also forced the Kenshin-gumi to aim more carefully for vital points, prolonging the battle. In fact, the enemy managed to get in several hits, including one on Yahiko's left arm.

By the time the battle was over, the bandits were all unconscious and the Kenshin-gumi was injured and slightly fatigued. Fighting against an adversary that could not feel pain was a difficult challenge. It did not help that they had been outnumbered by enemies with killing blades.

As the Kenshin-gumi continued into the borough, they slowed their pace and kept to the shadows to avoid further ambushes. They were able to stay concealed for nearly fifteen minutes; however, as the Kenshin-gumi passed through one alley, somebody tried to dump a large pile of burning waste onto them. Kenshin jumped to the roof and knocked out their would-be assassin before they continued with equal stealth.

Nearly an hour after leaving the dojo, the Kenshin-gumi reached their destination: the headquarters of the _Black Akuma_.

* * *

Akio had taken a back seat role in the fighting. Since he was only eight years old, physically feeble, and unskilled in any combat doctrine, he had been relegated to the role of standing back and watching for an opening. 

Kaoru, on the other hand, was an active fighter and had managed to knock out several of her opponents as they had squeezed through the clogged door. Also, she proved to be adept at clubbing people on the head with thrown pieces of medical ware. Nevertheless, when the remaining half-dozen raiders had stepped back and began lighting torches, she knew that it was time to go on the offensive.

Pinching through the door, Kaoru charged as soon as she was out. Her first target, taken completely by surprise, was knocked out with a single blow to the temple. Kaoru then turned to face her remaining five adversaries. Grabbing the lit torch now at her disposal, she burned the hand of one of the residual bandits before clubbing him on the shoulder, sending him into dreamless slumber. Then, Kaoru delivered a thrust straight into the third brigand's gut, removing him from the fight.

It was at this point that Akio noticed that one of the remaining attackers was not fighting Kaoru but was instead sneaking toward the clinic with a lit torch. Akio prepared to throw his last grenade pulling his arm back for the throw. However, right as he was throwing the grenade forward, his meager strength suddenly failed him, causing the grenade to land at his feet. After that, all he felt was the clay shrapnel tearing into his body.

The loud noise distracted Kaoru just long enough; the next thing that she felt was a sword slashing across her back.

* * *

Kenshin's advanced training was the only thing that saved his life. Moments after he had ducked to the side, a small needle embedded itself in the wall behind him. If Kenshin had dodged a tenth of second later, the needle would have hit him in the neck, severing his carotid artery and killing him instantly. 

"Well Yahiko-_chan_, I see that your new friends are quite skilled. Tell me this though: Are you ready to die for your betrayal?"

It was then that they saw their final opponent. He was a young boy, near Yahiko's age, dressed in black cloths and a black hood, perched atop the building like an angel of darkness, needles at the ready. It was he who had spoken.

Yahiko's growled response contained enough venom to kill half Tokyo, "Takumi. I should have known that _you_ would be involved in this somehow."

The boy, Takumi, merely responded, "Well Yahiko-_chan_, since you went through all the trouble to get here, I think I shall grace you with the truth of what happened. I was the one who took the bracelet and hid it in your room for them to find." With this statement, Takumi began to smirk. However, he was not finished bragging.

"I was also the one who poisoned that lovely little wretch of yours. I picked the poison, I picked the target, and I went for the heart, Yahiko-chan, did I ever go for the heart!" His smirk grew as he boasted and by the end he was nearly cackling with glee. As Takumi's joy increased, so too, did Yahiko's anger.

* * *

A short note on Takumi and Yahiko's relationship is needed in order to understand the current situation. While both Yahiko and Takumi were drafted into the Yakuza at a young age, and while both possessed tremendous talent, the two were separated by their attitude and, to some extent, lineage. Whereas Yahiko saw himself as the descendant of noble samurai, and thus required to uphold their great tradition, Takumi saw himself as the beginning and end of his family line, and thus the person to whom he owed any loyalty. In short, where Yahiko resisted the Yakuza at every available opportunity, Takumi thoroughly embraced every opening to better his social position. Yahiko obeyed only to repay his false debts and made it clear that he did not want the confidence of those above him in the Yakuza. Takumi, on the other hand, obeyed every command with relish, accepted any mission, and took every risk to bring greater gains to his superiors and, by extension, himself. When Takumi was offered his first assassination mission, he jumped at the chance. Because of their conflicting viewpoints, Yahiko and Takumi viewed each other with disdain. To Takumi, Yahiko was a simpleminded romantic who had deluded himself into believing in his own possession of moral rectitude when no such thing exists. To Yahiko, Takumi was a black-hearted monster who had sold his own soul for the approval of their superiors. What this boils down to, however, is that a conflict between the two had been coming for some time, and that neither of them was going to be pulling any punches.

* * *

Given Takumi's belief in his own superiority, he had no qualms about baiting Yahiko. In Takumi's opinion, there was no better kill than one in which the prey thought that it was the predator. That might explain why he took out a vial of the poison and, displaying it to Yahiko from atop the roof, loudly boasted, "You need a sample of the poison? Well, here it is Yahiko-chan. This is the last of it: I've destroyed the rest. All you have to do to get it is defeat me. Then again, you always were the lesser of the two of us." With that Takumi put the vial away, jumped down from the roof and attacked. 

Yahiko, acting purely on instinct, which had been drilled into him during the training he received from Kaoru, blocked all three needles with his shinai before charging with a loud yell. However, as Yahiko swung, Takumi dodged. Yahiko swung again. Takumi dodged again. Swing. Dodge. Swing. Dodge. This pattern continued for nearly a dozen times. Yahiko began to realize that he was gaining nothing from these exchanges. Takumi used Yahiko's hesitation to get in a counter attack.

Removing a needle from his pouch, Takumi decided to go for the slow kill. Kenshin and Sanosuke were holding back, knowing that if all three attacked at once, they would clutter up each other's range of motion and create an even bigger problem. With that in mind, Takumi took the needle and launched at Yahiko's left knee. Yahiko, whose arms were tired from the repeated strikes, was unable to block the attack. Pain flowered throughout Yahiko's leg while his knee locked up due to the obstruction. He had to act fast.

Dropping his shinai and tearing the needle from his knee, Yahiko charged Takumi for a body slam. As they both tumbled to the ground, Takumi rammed a needle into Yahiko's right shoulder paralyzing the arm attached. Yahiko's eyes grew wide and he began to crawl away shouting, "Please don't kill me!" over and over before getting up and running off down the street. While both Kenshin and Sanosuke were shocked at Yahiko's display of naked cowardice, neither hesitated in charging at Takumi. Takumi, who was almost satisfied by having Yahiko flee in terror and was also eager to savor his victory, took off to avoid fighting Kenshin and Sanosuke.

Although they searched the entire night, neither Kenshin nor Sanosuke could find any trace of Takumi or the poison that they so desperately needed. When morning came, the two warriors headed back toward the clinic to mourn Tsubame's passing.

To Be Continued…


	4. The Conclusion

Disclaimer: _Rurouni Kenshin_ is property of Watsuki Nobuhiro. If I did own it, it would be set in space and nobody would read it.

**Once a Thief?**

By Quadhelix 

**Chapter 4: The Conclusion **(AN: About #$& time!)

As Kenshin and Sanosuke headed back toward the clinic, both took time to silently mourn Tsubame's death. Although they had tried their best to recover a sample of the poison used against Tsubame, they had failed and now she had paid the price. Megumi had said that she had needed the sample within two hours. That had been the previous evening. However, Kenshin and Sanosuke had searched for the assassin Takumi until morning before heading to the clinic.

What truly confused the duo were Yahiko's strange actions at the end of the fight. He had literally run off in fear after having body-slammed Takumi:

_Dropping his shinai and tearing the needle from his knee, Yahiko charged Takumi for a body slam. As they both tumbled to the ground, Takumi rammed a needle into Yahiko's right shoulder paralyzing the arm attached. Yahiko's eyes grew wide and he began to crawl away shouting, "Please don't kill me!" over and over before getting up and running off down the street._

Neither Kenshin nor Sanosuke could figure out what had come over Yahiko. Such behavior was completely abnormal for Yahiko, who prided himself on his courage. Then, again, it had been an extremely stressful situation and the possibility that Takumi's needles contained a poison that affected the mind in unusual ways could not be ignored. Kenshin had seen men go mad from prolonged fighting during The War. While some, like Shishio, had turned into bloodthirsty monsters, others had simply become quivering masses of fear. The true motives behind Yahiko's actions never occurred to either Kenshin or Sanosuke. Or, for that matter, Takumi.

* * *

Kaoru woke up. That surprised her immensely. The last thing that she remembered was a sword cutting through her back, rendering her unconscious. Theoretically, at least, her unconsciousness should have left her at the mercy of the attackers who had been trying to burn down Megumi's clinic. Thus, her survival posed a logical paradox that would have sent Einstein diving for his notebook.

Violations of the laws of probability aside, Kaoru was also worried about everyone else at the clinic. She had been the only real fighter there, so if she had been unconscious, it was quite possible that the attackers had won and that the clinic had been destroyed along with its occupants.

Taking stock of her location, Kaoru ruled that out. She was in a room at the clinic, so it obviously had not been destroyed. The clinic's continued existence posed the same problem as her own survival: How?

Kaoru's lucubration was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" In response, a mildly bruised Megumi entered the room.

"Megumi! What happened to you?"

"One of Akio's grenades. He dropped it while in the middle of a throw and some of the pieces hit me." This, naturally, caused Kaoru some concern.

"Is he alright?"

"Oh, he's fine, nothing that a few weeks of rest won't heal."

"That's good," Kaoru hesitated before continuing, "How is Tsubame?"

They were interrupted by a knock at the clinic's front entrance

* * *

Kenshin and Sanosuke knocked on the door to the clinic and waited. They were slightly concerned by the burn marks on the street in front of the clinic, and therefore were in a slight hurry to see if everyone was okay. They also wanted to try to find Yahiko, and felt that they would have a better chance of finding him if they had more people searching.

They heard somebody run up to the door. It opened and Megumi greeted them in harsh whisper:

"Would you two be quiet, my patients need their rest!" Sanosuke was the first to respond:

"What patients?"

Megumi's answer was once again cut short by Yahiko's shout:

"Hey, would you guys keep quiet out there; we're all trying to sleep back here!"

As Kenshin and Sanosuke wrote off their plans of trying to find Yahiko, Megumi simply pondered the irony of screaming to get quiet.

* * *

When Kenshin walked into Yahiko's room, he nearly had a small heart attack; the room contained three futons. One contained a sleeping Akio; another contained Yahiko, lying down but completely awake. However, it was the third futon's contents that nearly sent Kenshin to an early grave. Lying there, pale as a ghost and wheezing like an asthmatic smoker, was Tsubame. Kenshin nearly screamed as his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Sano!"

Fortunately, Sanosuke caught Kenshin's unconscious body before it hit the floor.

* * *

Kenshin awoke to find himself in a futon across the room from Kaoru's. She was sitting up in her futon, reading a tattered copy of The Tales of Genji. When he tried to sit up, Kaoru looked over at him and smiled.

"So, Kenshin, feeling any better?"

"I am not sure, Kaoru-dono, that I am not. I think that I saw a ghost"

"If you mean Tsubame-chan, she isn't a ghost."

"That is good, that it is. How did she survive?"

"Well, from what they told me while you were recovering…"

_As soon as Kaoru's body hit the ground, the two remaining bandits prepared to finish her off. However, they were interrupted by a grunt from their comrade who was attempting to burn down the clinic. They turned toward him to find Yahiko standing over the third bandit's prone form. Yahiko was holding a fencepost like a shinai, facing the last two bandits. In their surprise, the attackers barely realized what hit them._

"That is a very interesting to know Kaoru-dono, but how did Tsubame survive?"

"Yahiko got a sample of the poison."

"Oro?"

"Well, from what Sanosuke told me…"

_Yahiko looked at the needle in his knee. He recognized Takumi's color-coding and realized that the needle was coated with a slow-release poison. More accurately, the needle was coated with a strong poison and the poison was coated with a low-solubility salt to protect against accidental exposure. Such a precaution was necessary because the poison most likely did not have an antidote. If Yahiko could time his counter-attack just right, Takumi would be facing a handful of his own poison. When he felt that the salt was almost completely dissolved, he yanked the needle out of his leg, tensing the knee to force out any poisoned fluid. Then, he waited a fraction of a second for any remaining salt to dissolve. Once he was ready, Yahiko charged. Yahiko rammed Takumi but also, secretly, cut Takumi with the needle._

"So Takumi is dead?"

"Probably not, Kenshin. According to Yahiko, not enough of the needle went in to apply all of the poison. However, Yahiko is fairly sure that Takumi is not going to recover for quite some time."

"How long?"

"Let's just say that Yahiko may well be teaching Kamiya Kasshin Ryu to his children before Takumi gets back full use of his limbs."

"So Yahiko has removed the threat of revenge on the part of Takumi, that he has. That still does not explain how he got a sample of the poison."

"Apparently, while Yahiko cut Takumi with one hand, he picked Takumi's pocket with the other."

"And his sudden and uncharacteristic begging and pleading?"

"Well, Kenshin, according to Megumi, Yahiko says that it really wasn't an act. He really was scared out of his mind. However, he says that he didn't feel any different than he did during his fight against the Juppongatana at the Aoiya. The only difference is that here, Yahiko did not channel his fear into winning the fight but instead into acting afraid and getting away."

"I understand, that I do. Yahiko felt that winning the fight was unimportant; he had to get the sample back so that Megumi-dono could find a cure."

"Exactly, and Takumi would be much less of a problem if he thought that Yahiko had been defeated."

* * *

In the other room, Yahiko quietly listened as Tsubame slept. Her breathing had improved noticeably and she seemed to be asleep. Akio, whom he had always seen as something of a younger brother, was asleep and was finally going to have a real home with him at the dojo. Both Tsubame and Akio were recovering from their injuries quite nicely and Yahiko couldn't feel prouder of them than he already did.

The expression, "Once a thief, always a thief" had been used to condemn Yahiko many times. However, just this once, the truth in that expression saved his family from death.

The End 


End file.
